Page 59 - JCBP-1-2

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Somatization symptoms of outpatient

research showed that the incidence rate of anxiety and impairment, hepatic and renal insufficiency, respiratory
depression was 42.5% among cardiology outpatients failure, difficulties in communication such as language or
in the general hospital . The correlation between writing; (iii) having schizophrenic psychiatric symptoms and
[4]
psychological disorders, especially anxiety and depression, severe depression with suicidal tendencies and behaviors;
and progression of CVD, has been confirmed by previous and (iv) having a history of taking or was still taking related
research [1,5-7] . The occurrence of somatization symptoms, drugs at the time of questionnaire, such as anti-anxiety and
including chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, and depressive drugs, sedative and hypnotic drugs, and analgesic
dizziness, is often accompanied by common psychological drugs, after the onset of somatization symptoms.
problems, such as depression and anxiety [8-11] . Once Eight hundred and fifty patients suspected of
affected, the patients often consult general practitioners or psychological disorders were screened using the “three
physical medicine specialists, instead of psychologists, as questions” method . Among them, 42 patients refused
[15]
they do not have a deeper understanding of psychological to complete the scales and questionnaires because they
problems [7-9] , but most physical medicine specialists do not were unwilling to disclose personal data and rejected the
have the expertise to identify and redress psychological self-rated psychological scale. In the end, 808 eligible adult
disorders [12-14] . Seeking medical attention from physicians outpatients, who completed all questionnaires, were included
having no experience in treating psychological illnesses is in this study. The Ethics Committees of Xiangya Hospital,
a non-viable solution to treating somatization symptoms, Central South University, approved the study protocol, and
and this often leads to repeated visits to clinics or hospitals informed consent was obtained from all participants.
and increased medical costs . Therefore, it is imperative
[14]
to improve the identification of psychological problems in Of the 808 patients, 503 (62.3%) were women aged
general hospitals. Unfortunately, there is limited clinical 18 – 82 years, with a mean age of 51.3 ± 10.1 years. A total
research on somatization symptoms in outpatients with of 442 (54.7%) were diagnosed with CVD, of which
CVD in general hospitals. 238 patients were diagnosed with hypertension, 70 with
unstable angina pectoris, 64 with stable angina pectoris,
In view of the above, this study was designed to and 70 with arrhythmia such as frequent ventricular
investigate the clinical features and factors affecting premature, frequent atrial premature, and short paroxysmal
somatization symptoms in cardiology outpatients with atrial tachycardia. In addition, 205 patients (25.4%) were
psychiatric disorders in a Chinese tertiary general hospital. diagnosed with other somatic diseases, including 96 with
The present study involved patients who complained chronic gastritis, 54 with multiple lacunar infarctions of
of physical discomfort and were screened for risk of the brain, and 55 with carotid atherosclerosis or cervical
psychological disorder using the “three questions” method spondylosis. One hundred and sixty-one cases (19.9%)
recommended by the Chinese Expert Consensus on were confirmed as having no somatic diseases.
Psychological Prescriptions of Cardiovascular Patients in
2014 . 2.2. Methods
[15]
2. Materials and methods The study participants were assisted by coordinators in
completing the questionnaires and scale assessments.
2.1. Participants Said coordinators owned a certificate of a second-level
In this cross-sectional and observational study, we recruited psychological counselor and had received unified training.
outpatients who complained of physical discomfort and
visited the cardiology department at the Xiangya Hospital, 2.2.1. General demographic data
Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China, from The demographic data collected from the participants
August 2020 to July 2021. Patients who met the following include age, gender, marital status, education, occupation,
criteria were included: (i) Patients who gave at least two techniques used for diagnosing current disease (e.g., by
positive responses to the “three questions” and were doctors, electrocardiography, echocardiography, and
[15]
suspected of having psychological disorder; and (ii) patients other auxiliary methods), duration of the disease, and
over 18 years old who were willing to cooperate and were medical consultation and treatment for main somatization
able to complete the scales and questionnaires. Exclusion symptoms in the past year.
criteria of the present study are as follows: (i) Having severe
hypertension, heart failure above NYHA Grade III, severe 2.2.2. Chinese version of generalized anxiety
arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia and atrial disorder-7 and patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
fibrillation; (ii) having somatic diseases such as diabetes Anxiety and depression were measured with the generalized
mellitus, severe nervous diseases, dementia and cognitive anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) and PHQ-9, respectively [16,17] .

Volume 1 Issue 2 (2023) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.0636